The Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) provides a hands-on learning platform for students around the world to develop their online marketing skills and gain practical experience working with real businesses and non-profits to solve real problems and produce real results.

Every year Google gives thousands of student teams across the world an AdWords budget of US$250 to spend on a 3-week online marketing campaign for a business or non-profit of their choice. Students also have the option to create and manage a Google+ page for their client to help further boost their online presence and engage the community.

The teams that develop and communicate the most successful campaigns win awesome prizes, including a trip to Google, a donation to their non-profit partner, digital devices and more. This year over 500 professors and 10,000 students from more than 60 countries competed in the Challenge and we are happy to announce the results are in!

Check out the AdWords Business, Social Media Marketing and Social Impact Winners below and the full list of the 2016 Team Results can be found on the GOMC Past Challenges page.

AdWords Business Awards

Global Winners

The Global Winning team comes from the ESG UQAM - School of Management Sciences in Canada, under Professor Harold Boeck. The team of James Forbes, Nicolas Archambault-Doucet, Esme Fentener Levi and Thomas St-Amour worked with Alvéole, a company that helps people and organizations install and care for urban honeybee colonies.

Regional Winners

The Americas Winner comes from James Madison University in the United States, under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Lynn Radocha, Alexander Adley, Maianh Phan, John Thompson and Cari Ross worked with the Rockingham/Harrisonburg SPCA, a non-profit animal rescue shelter that provides care for all dogs, cats, and other small animals until they can be adopted into a safe, permanent home.

The Asia & Pacific Winner comes from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, under Professor Shilpa Sawant in India. The team of Aniruddha Pandhare, Devarsh Ganatra, Urvi Talaty, Dhananjay Thaker, Akash Pandey and Rini Antony worked with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan, a non-profit Trust that invests in various medical and social welfare initiatives to transform the lives of the poor and needy in the drought prone ‘Marathwada’ region of Maharashtra.

The Europe Winner comes from the University of Turku in Finland, under Professor Joni Salminen. The team of Elina Ojala, Miia Bergström, Paula Suominen and Emma Jalonen worked with ResQ, a recently founded company with a mission to help consumers “rescue” leftovers from restaurants and acquire quality meals at a cheap price, while restaurants profit from selling food that would have otherwise been wasted.

The Middle East & Africa Winner comes from Daystar University in Kenya, under Professor MarangaMoriasi. The team of Jeffrey Kanae, Moses Njeri Khatiebere, Evelyne Magaju, Sharone Awuori Tindi and Roselinda Were worked with Youth on the Move, a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower youth with epilepsy to build their skills, stand up for themselves and transform their desires into realistic plans and actions.

Google+ Social Media Marketing Awards

Global Winners

The Global Winner comes from the Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering in India under Professor Khushali Deulkar. The team of Rosanlal Behera, Niki Jain, Harsh Jain, Chandrasekhar Raman, Pratik Bhambhani and Aayushi Dholakia worked with Kossine, a Neebal initiative and coaching institute that specializes in teaching Computer Programming and Electronics courses to students.

Regional Winners

The Americas Winner comes from James Madison University in the United States, under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Matt Deters, Molly McDevitt, Caitlin Fikac, Natalie Krewin and Claudia Schnorbus worked with the Poricy Park Conservancy, a non-profit that preserves 250 acres of open space, prehistoric fossil beds, and the historic Murray Farmhouse for the surrounding community.

The Asia & Pacific Winner comes from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, under Professor Shilpa Sawant in India. The team of Aniruddha Pandhare, Devarsh Ganatra, Urvi Talaty, Dhananjay Thaker, Akash Pandey and Rini Antony worked with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan, a non-profit Trust that invests in various medical and social welfare initiatives to transform the lives of the poor and needy in the drought prone ‘Marathwada’ region of Maharashtra.

The Europe Winner comes from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, under Professor Elena Vitkauskaitė. The team of Mantas Mitrauskas, Merita Simanavičiūtė, Agnė Raulinavičiūtė, Severina Sekrytė and Paulina Lazauskaitė worked with Dalinuosi.lt, an online sharing platform that promotes the protection of the environment and stimulates responsible usage by allowing people to lend their goods or borrow them from other consumers.

The Middle East & Africa Winner comes from the Institute of Management Technology, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, under Professor Ali Zalzala. The team of Pratiksha Kumar, Shikhar Ahuja and Rahul Jain worked with Community Tracks, a non-profit in California that has a global agenda to provide under-served communities with sustainable technology solutions and associated education services that enhance the quality of life.

AdWords Social Impact Awards

The 1st Place Winner comes from James Madison University in the United States, under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Emily Maynard, Jacob Shibley, Christine Provino, Jacob Brown and Amy Goffe worked with the Children's Science Center, a non-profit children’s science museum focused on hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning and providing unique opportunities for children to explore, create and be inspired.

The 2nd Place Winner comes from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, under Professor Shilpa Sawant in India. The team of Aniruddha Pandhare, Devarsh Ganatra, Urvi Talaty, Dhananjay Thaker, Akash Pandey and Rini Antony worked with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan, a non-profit Trust that invests in various medical and social welfare initiatives to transform the lives of the poor and needy in the drought prone ‘Marathwada’ region of Maharashtra.

The 3rd Place Winner comes from James Madison University in the United States, under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Lynn Radocha, Alexander Adley, Maianh Phan, John Thompson and Cari Ross worked with the Rockingham/Harrisonburg SPCA, a non-profit animal rescue shelter that provides care for all dogs, cats, and other small animals until they can be adopted into a safe, permanent home.

Congratulations to the 2016 winners and a big round of applause for all teams that participated in the Google Online Marketing Challenge this year!

In honor of Black History Month, we launched our third annual “Pay It Forward” contest to find and recognize undergraduate and MBA students positively impacting their local Black communities. After reviewing an incredible range of submissions from undergraduates and business school students, we’re pleased to announce our winners:

Undergraduate winners:

Ariana Brazier (2013 BOLD Immersion participant) is the former President of the Spelman College section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). This summer, Ariana will be conducting research on homelessness before starting a Ph.D. program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Rachel McKenzie is the former Vice President of the Spelman College section of NCNW. This summer, Rachel will be joining Teach for America.

MBA winners:

Stephen Worthy is the former co-President of Detroit Revitalization & Business Initiative (Detroit R&B) at the Ross School of Business. This summer, Steve will begin working with J.P. Morgan in New York with hopes of returning to Detroit to continue his commitment to his hometown.

Benjamin Stickel is the former co-President of Detroit R&B. He will be returning to Detroit to continue his impact within his community while working at the Boston Consulting Group.

Both teams were awarded an all-expense paid trip to Google’s Headquarters and here’s a photo recap of their experience:

They had a front row seat to experience Google’s campus and culture.

They connected with Googlers through coffee chats, resume workshops with Google recruiters and as they walked around campus.

They had an inside look at Google’s products.

“It was really cool to see that innovative side of Google that you always hear about” commented Ben Stickel (pictured far left) after an inside look at Google Cardboard virtual reality.

They presented their work to Googlers.

Pictured below: Steve Worthy and Benjamin Stickel speaking about their work with the Detroit Revitalization & Business Initiative. Together, they pioneered Minds of Business (MoB), a mentorship program that mobilizes MBAs to serve as mentors to Detroit youth. To date, they have partnered with two Detroit public schools and covered topics such as Accounting, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing.

They inspired Googlers to step out of their comfort zones and continue striving to be agents of change in their communities.

Pictured below: Ariana and Rachel leading an ice-breaker used by the Spelman College section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Ariana and Rachel, during their tenure as President and Vice President, respectively, have placed great emphasis on their general body meetings because of the opportunities that they provide for “members to fellowship and empower themselves through constructive and reflective activities.”

Join us in congratulating NCNW, R&B and all the incredible student organizations that entered the Pay it Forward contest. Please consider entering the contest next February!

We just wrapped up five weeks of epic adventure during Google Games, and this is your golden ticket to experience all the fun! Google Games is an annual event that allows us to bring Google’s culture, a lot of entertainment, and some friendly competition to computer science students across North America. This year, the games were hosted in 14 different cities, and we were introduced to nearly 2,000 challenge-seeking undergraduate students from 60 different universities.

From the patio on Google’s campus in Sunnyvale to a rooftop in Chicago, there were 17 events in 14 different cities across North America.

Participants, encouraged to dress up in costume, encountered different challenges including Trivia, Building, Puzzles, Word Association and Coding. We awarded prizes to the top three teams at each location who had the most points at the end of the day. The Spirit Award was presented to the teams with a contagious energy or who got creative with this year’s theme - time travel!

Teams went head to head competing in five different challenge categories, and the winners were able to take home some well deserved Google SWAG.

Team “Liveware Problem” in Waterloo was the only team to solve every single coding question - 18 problems in 75 minutes. In Cambridge, team “Benevolent Bodacious Barbarians Plus Plus” finished the puzzle challenge with a top score across all locations. A huge congratulations to all the teams who were crowned the winners at each site.

Giant Hand from the University of Texas at Austin

); DROP TABLE teams; -- from Princeton University

Liveware Problem from the University Of Waterloo

We're Bad At This from Carnegie Mellon University

UNO CS Squad from the University Of New Orleans

Thyme Lords from New York University

Volcano Volcanoes from the University Of Washington, Seattle

Chrono Crew from the University Of Maryland College Park

Shuai's Guys from Northwestern University Illinois

Jumping Jalapeños from Georgia Institute Of Technology

nibbles ᕕ( ՞ ᗜ ՞ )ᕗ from Stanford University

EPOCH FAIL from the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT)

Team Avocado from San Jose State University

Tyrannosaurus Rekt from WPI Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Doctor Poo from the California Institute Of Technology

Ultimate Norf from Harvey Mudd College

Team a4c1bed85s0365c from the University Of British Columbia

The Building challenge at Google Games involved some creative thinking and many straws.

Add Google Students to your circles on Google+ to learn more about next year’s competition. We hope to see you there and uncover your passion for computer science.